DETROIT (AP) — The Latest on the United Auto Workers union's strike that has crippled U.S. production at General Motors. A United Auto Workers official says about seven to nine union picketers were arrested for blocking a roadway at a General Motors plant in Tennessee.
Local UAW Chairman Mike Herron said the arrests came Wednesday at the Spring Hill plant after authorities asked the protesters multiple times to get out of the road. Herron said he believes the protesters were afraid trucks might get into the plant.
Herron said at a news conference that police and the sheriff's department have done a fantastic job and have been supportive during the ongoing strike. He said arrests take the union off its message.
Additionally, company spokesman Dan Flores confirms that the strike has forced GM to place about 1,200 workers on temporary layoff at a Canadian factory that makes pickup trucks.The plant in Oshawa, Ontario, near Toronto makes the previous generation Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups.
The Silverado is GM's top-selling vehicle in the U.S. The plant also makes the Chevrolet Impala large car, and that production has not been affected. Flores says production continues at two other Canadian plants which make engines and the Chevrolet Equinox SUV.
He says parts shortages due to the strike have not affected production in Mexico.
